OK, this thing has been for over a week. Has anyone played it yet? How does it rate with HoMM3? Is it worth the $45 investment?

It's worth it. Can't really compare it to Heroes 3, but the Heroes feeling (addiction) is there :).

Yeah buy it.
It sucks that some buildings blocks other buildings though.

[This message has been edited by Tasohan (edited April 08, 2002).]

45$ is too much by my opinion, but if you cant wait, then there isnt any choice.

As I said before, i didnt expect very much, but i expected better graphic in battles and much more new units, not less (if im not wrong, and not counting upgraded versions in 3rd part)

I played one XL map with my friend, but that was all, i didnt got addicted as before, maybe i am immune after three parts :)

It is interesting to try out new stuff, but after that it is same as before, as always!

[This message has been edited by total (edited April 11, 2002).]

I was disappointed, big time. I've been playing countless hours of HoMM from the very first version of the masterpiece. I loved the interface, I loved the ingenuity of the whole game concept, I loved the system and I loved the graphics (in all episodes - this game does not need 3D!).

Now, the fouth incarnation. Interface. What crawled up the 3DO peoples' butts to make such an ugly interface? On 800x600, the game looks about as good as boiled carrot - nothing can be seen, the game screen shakes as the hero moves overland, and boy, 'tis slow on PIII700/128/16. "No," think I, "there's light in the end of a tunnel" and I switch to 1024x768. Yippie! Interface still in unproportional, the game is slower, and I cannot see a single detail of the screen, since the fonts are downscaled. The ministry of health must ban this game, for the people will have their eyesight killed.

Did I mention it was slow? Not all of us keep their machines on the latest level and divorce with their 'top-of-the-line' vid chips every 4 months. And all HoMMs were good on system requirements, and even the 'advanced' third part ran very well on P166MMX, when 450mHz were well around.

But I think, "A HoMM fan will find a sexy thing in this game!" and go on playing. Castles. Were the designers drunk to mix Inferno and Necropolis castles? Of course, some cataclysm, chaos and all that, but mix those? Or mix Dungeon and Stronghold? No, gentlemen (and ladies). That ain't good, that smells like "we wanted to finish it fast, so we gave the users this pferdscheisse" to me. Bad, bad. 4 levels of units? Carramba! Don't tell me that every level has different units. They overblock each other in a lot of cases, and what we have left is equal to two normal castles, buy dysfunctional and with less profit. Oy oy oy. Graphics are so off the HoMM theme. Sorry, but it does look like the Age of Wonders rip-off, and it was a long time ago. Caca.

Game mechanics. That defeats the whole idea of HoMM. My units can go by themselves? My hero is nothing more than a unit herself? Deja vu, and AoW was called a shameless HoMM3 ripoff at it's bright times...

No multiplayer? Updates? Good for them, and it better be some enormous update, to update all of the nonsense they packed this game with.